Mazda Tired Of Mass Market - Moving Brand Upscale To Compete With The Germans

Why does it seem like more and more automakers are aspiring to become luxury brands? The answer is simple – higher profit margins. It's not all about who sells the most cars as accountants will tell you the money made with each vehicle delivered is just as important. Case in point, Mazda has been gradually moving upmarket with its latest products and will kick things up a notch with a new wave of RWD-based models.

Jeremy Thomson, the company's UK boss, told Autocar the goal is to turn the Zoom-Zoom company into a fully fledged luxury car manufacturer: "Our aspirations are to become a credible alternative to the traditional mainstream premium and that means non-German. We're not looking to mimic German premium because that's very well catered for with the existing incumbents and probably impossible to beat them at their own game."